Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Product review: iFlash Dual USB 8400mAh 2.6A External Battery Pack


I tested iFlash Dual USB 8400mAh External Battery Pack with Nexus 7 Tablet, Samsung Galaxy 7.7 Tablet, Samsung Galaxy Nexus cell phone and iPad Mini Tablet.

I received this power bank from the manufacture for an honest review be it positive or negative. Top reviewers are often asked to review new battery packs and one of the benefits of being asked to test different power banks is that it gives me an opportunity to compare them to each other using the same charging test. This set of tests allows me to provide unbiased results as the numbers speak for the performance of each unit.

I received two identical units, having two of them allows me to test for consistency in manufacturing. Ideally I want to see the same performance numbers for both units when testing the same device. The two iFlash Dual USB 8400mAh units showed small differences in performance, but the differences were not too bad.

My methodology is to charge each mobile device on each port of the unit for 10 minutes and measuring how much each unit was charge in that 10 minute period. In addition I tested charging two mobile devices at the same time. Each line in the table below represents a separate 10 minute test. I use Battery App by Elvison to determine how each device recognized the charging source. 'AC' status means the charging is at full charging rate. 'USB' status indicates charging at a lower charging rate. 'Discharging' status means that the charging rate is below the power that the device is consuming so it slows down the discharge rate but does not re-charge.

➨ General features:
======================

iFlash Dual USB 8400mAh external battery weighs 6.5 oz. Its size is 3.75" x 2.5" x 0.875". The pack has two USB output ports labelled OUT 0.6A and OUT 2A. The external battery comes with two charging cables (7 inches and 28 inches long) and 6 tips - including micro USB, mini USB and iPad. It did not have tips for Samsung Galaxy Tab or lightening connector for iPad Mini and I used my own charging cables during the tests. The package also includes a two compartment pouch which fits the power pack, cables and tips.

➨ Test Results:
======================

✔ Nexus 7 Tablet (using provided cable)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unit#1 /OUT 0.6A: AC ~~~~~~ 2% change in charge in 10 minutes
Unit#1 /OUT 2A: AC ~~~~~~~~ 2% change in charge in 10 minutes

Unit#2 /OUT 0.6A: AC ~~~~~~ 4% change in charge in 10 minutes
Unit#2 /OUT 2A: AC ~~~~~~~~ 5% change in charge in 10 minutes

✔ Samsung Galaxy Nexus cell phone (using provided cable)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unit#1 /OUT 0.6A: AC ~~~~~~ 6% change in charge in 10 minutes
Unit#1 /OUT 2A: AC ~~~~~~~~ 7% change in charge in 10 minutes

Unit#2 /OUT 0.6A: AC ~~~~~~ 4% change in charge in 10 minutes
Unit#2 /OUT 2A: AC ~~~~~~~~ 5% change in charge in 10 minutes

✔ Samsung Galaxy 7.7 tablet (using my own Galaxy tab connector cable)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unit#1 /OUT 0.6A: AC ~~~~~~ 1% change in charge in 10 minutes
Unit#1 /OUT 2A: AC ~~~~~~~~ 4% change in charge in 10 minutes

Unit#2 /OUT 0.6A: AC ~~~~~~ 2% change in charge in 10 minutes
Unit#2 /OUT 2A: AC ~~~~~~~~ 4% change in charge in 10 minutes

✔ iPad Mini tablet (using my own lightening connector cable)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unit#1 /OUT 0.6A: AC ~~~~~~ 1% change in charge in 10 minutes
Unit#1 /OUT 2A: AC ~~~~~~~~ 1% change in charge in 10 minutes

Unit#2 /OUT 0.6A: AC ~~~~~~ 2% change in charge in 10 minutes
Unit#2 /OUT 2A: AC ~~~~~~~~ 2% change in charge in 10 minutes

✔ Nexus 7 Tablet and Samsung Galaxy Nexus cell phone at the same time
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unit#1 /OUT 0.6A: AC ~~~~~~ 3% change in charge in 10 minutes (tablet)
Unit#1 /OUT 2A: AC ~~~~~~~~ 4% change in charge in 10 minutes (phone)

➨ Key findings:
======================
✔ The iFlash Dual USB 8400mAh power packs worked well with all devices. They were not the fastest of the power packs I have tested, but I like their compact size. iFlash Dual USB 8400mAh is the smallest 8400mAh capacity power pack I have tested.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

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